On the Fast Lane: Transportation Application Offers Significant Revenue Opportunities for RFID Technology

Business Wire, April 30, 2008

SINGAPORE -- After almost two decades of service in transport applications, radio frequency identification (RFID) has expanded its scope beyond transportation and security. A major reason for this diversification of roles is continued innovations, which have simplified its deployment.

New analysis from Frost & Sullivan (http://www.autoID.frost.com), Strategic Assessment of the Asia Pacific RFID Transportation Markets, reports that transportation may not be the largest market for RFID application, but it is certainly one of the most vibrant. RFID technology, with its benefits of reliability and robustness, could have sweeping impacts on travel and transportation industries in the Asia Pacific.

Having established RFID's use in various applications such as toll collection, ticketing, and other transport purposes, market participants are exploring untapped potential in immediate data management practices, as well as downstream dissemination, aggregation, and additional use.

There will be more windows of opportunities once governments show greater initiative to mandate its use. RFID will experience widespread demand and acceptance when standards are developed and strictly enforced.

"So far, most manufacturers have used RFID only to comply with corporate and federal tracking mandates because of high implementation costs," says Frost & Sullivan Industry Analyst Parul Oswal. "That could be changing as tag prices continue to drop in the short to medium term."

Many companies are introducing low-cost tags that are likely to enhance the penetration rates of RFID in transportation. It will find many more takers when coupled with complementary technologies such as barcodes, global positioning systems (GPS), biometrics, and smart cards.

For instance, RFID with barcodes and GPS can track and trace a container or cargo in transit, within short and long ranges. It can also be integrated with biometrics and smart cards for use in toll collection and ticketing.

RFID helps transport companies track assets (cars, trucks, trailers, and shipping containers) at high speeds of more than 100 kilometers per hour over long distances. RFID tag manufacturers will have to be aware that the tags and readers involved in transport applications have to endure harsh environmental conditions (high temperatures, cold, snow, ice, rain, dirt, and oil) through their lifespan. Tags in rail cars, those installed on vehicles' windshields, or the ones used for cargo tracking are most likely to face the brunt of these extreme conditions.

"Though the underlying assets tracked in transportation applications are few, they are generally of higher value than the items tracked in supply chain applications - several of which are designed to be one-time use tags to last a single journey," notes Oswal. "On the other hand, transportation RFID tags are required to offer years of continued, reliable use with over 99 percent accuracy."

These advantages far outweigh certain privacy concerns regarding RFID tags usage, as it can reveal personally identifiable information, without the knowledge or consent of the individual.

If you are interested in a virtual brochure, which provides manufacturers, end users, and other industry participants with an overview of the Asia Pacific RFID transportation markets, then send an e-mail to Donna Jeremiah, Corporate Communications, at djeremiah@frost.com, with your full name, company name, title, telephone number, company e-mail address, company website, city, state and country. Upon receipt of the above information, an overview will be sent to you by e-mail.

Strategic Assessment of the Asia Pacific RFID Transportation Markets is part of the Automatic Identification & Security Growth Partnership Service program, which also includes research in the following markets: Biometrics, Smart cards, RFID, Security, etc. All research services included in subscriptions provide detailed market opportunities and industry trends that have been evaluated following extensive interviews with market participants. Interviews with the press are available.

Frost & Sullivan, the Global Growth Consulting Company, partners with clients to accelerate their growth. The company's Growth Partnership Services, Growth Consulting and Career Best Practices empower clients to create a growth focused culture that generates, evaluates and implements effective growth strategies. Frost & Sullivan employs over 45 years of experience in partnering with Global 1000 companies, emerging businesses and the investment community from more than 30 offices on six continents. For more information about Frost & Sullivan's Growth Partnerships, visit http://www.frost.com.

Strategic Assessment of the Asia Pacific RFID Transportation Markets

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